Wall Street closed out Tuesday with record prices as easing oil helped offset ongoing geopolitical strain, and as corporate earnings continued to exceed analysts’ forecasts for the opening months of 2026.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.8% to a new all-time high of 7,259.22, building on its prior record that had been set at the end of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 356.35 points, or 0.7%, to 49,298.25, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 238.32 points, or 1%, to 25,326.13.
Markets gained support after oil prices gave back much of their sharp increases from Monday. Brent crude, the international benchmark, fell 4% to $109.87 after briefly topping $115 on Monday, even though it remained far above the roughly $70 level from before the war with Iran began.
While the war continued, U.S. military leaders said Tuesday that a ceasefire with Iran remained in effect, despite Iran being blamed for attacks against the United Arab Emirates, a U.S. ally, the day before. The U.S. military also said it was working to force open a path in the Strait of Hormuz so oil tankers could resume shipments from the Persian Gulf, a development traders have been watching for potential impact on crude prices.
Beyond the day’s oil move, investors stayed focused on earnings and on how companies are spending amid the AI buildout. Scott Wren, senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, said markets have been driven by earnings and that “investors are looking at earnings” and “how much companies are spending on AI data centers and other investments.”
Several company results boosted broad indexes. DuPont rose 8.4% after reporting better-than-expected profits for the latest quarter, and the company said its water technologies business felt some impact from the war due to logistics disruptions in the Middle East, even as it raised its forecasts for full-year results. Other gainers included American Electric Power, up 1.8%, and Cummins, up 2.8%, after both reported first-quarter profits that topped expectations.
Consumer and industrial technology names also swung with quarterly results. Pinterest jumped 6.9% after the online bulletin board reported results that beat Wall Street’s first-quarter sales and profit targets and said its number of active monthly users rose 11% to 631 million. AB InBev climbed as well, after the brewer reported results above analysts’ forecasts and pointed to growth for brands including Corona, Stella Artois and Michelob Ultra outside their home markets; CEO Michel Doukeris said, “Cheers to beer,” as the company’s U.S.-listed shares rose 8.7%.
Not all earnings updates translated into gains. Palantir Technologies fell 6.9% even though it reported stronger-than-expected results for the latest quarter, in part because investors have been weighing concerns about increased competition facing software companies, and because the stock is coming off a period in which it more than doubled in each of the last three years.
In overseas trading, European markets were mixed, with the CAC 40 rising 1.1% in Paris but the FTSE 100 dropping 1.4% in London. Many Asian markets were closed for holidays, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.8%.
In the U.S. bond market, Treasury yields eased after the decline in oil prices and after mixed reports on the economy. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.42% from 4.45% late Monday, according to the report, though it remained above 3.97% from just before the war began, a move that has kept mortgage and other borrowing costs elevated for U.S. households and businesses.